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You are here: Articles > Flight stories > Flight to Lima #3
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Article overview From Miami, the family of 4 flies the last leg to their final destination and hometown: Lima. They fly on the national airline, AeroPeru (which has now ceased operations), on a DC-10. Originally published in January 1999. Re-edited in March 2000. |
  hank you for choosing American Airlines", those were the last words we heard inside the Airbus A300 that landed at Miami, with my parents, my sister and me onboard. Quite ironic, especially since we didn't "choose" American. We landed right on time to catch our plane for our final destination, Lima!
 Long, long walk
Whoa. The counter is small. Right besides it, there's the Cayman Airways counter, and I remember one of the passengers putting his name tag right next to a printed tag showing a turtle (the Caymans logo) and the mention "GCM". Later I found out that was Grand Cayman. Well well... that was close. Because the route between Miami and Lima passes over Grand Cayman! My mom asks me to sit down and check for our carry-ons. "Remember we're in Miami and anything can happen". Exactly. Anything can happen. While I'm sitting down I see a man passing small books. Probably some religious fanatic, member of a new cult. A couple of meters from him, another man collects money for the "poor children". Yeah, right. Once I got back to Montreal, I watched a report on Dateline about these faux charity organizations, giving 10% of their funds to the poor, and keeping 90%. Or worse. At my right, I see the map of Miami International Airport. Many concourses, all giving me the impression of a big octopus with many tentacles. I notice the variety of airlines flying there... "Balair/CTA", "Miami Air"... and surprisingly, I see "KLM/Northwest". That's when I realized they had an alliance, the "Worldwide Reliability". The new AeroPeruAfterwards, after a short stay at the counter, my mom comes back with our boarding passes. Quite large, compared to the ones from American Airlines. Deep blue, small white fields, and the new AeroPeru logo on it. The flagship airline of my country of origin, AeroPeru (formerly Aero Peru), has suffered bad reputation, even from Peruvians themselves, who nicknamed it "Aero Peor" ("peor" meaning "worse" in Spanish). The red-striped aircraft were known for being late or having technical problems from time to time. But I see they wanted to get rid of the red and get a new image. And things have improved greatly, as you will see... Our boarding time is "5:10PM" from gate B-9. However I can't say things are 100% safe in Miami. My dad goes to the bathroom while my mom, my sister and me proceed to the boarding area where Latin-American lady greets us and passes our carry-ons to the X-ray scanner. Then, something weird happens. She asks me to press a button near the metal detector. A green light illuminates with a soft "ding". "Everything is fine", she says. What is the meaning of this? I still don't understand. Probably a detector indicating whether the baggage must be opened or not. Waiting, waiting...
I am surrounded by many people flying on many airlines. On the P.A. System, I hear (it's not verbatim) "Welcome to the Miami International Airport. During your stopover, we kindly ask you to comply with Federal regulations forbidding to smoke in the concourse. Thank you". Right next to our boarding gate, I see a Faucett Airlines L-1011 parked and boarding its passengers. It's 5:10PM, we are patiently waiting and we're still not asked to board, while the Faucett Airlines passengers are on their last boarding call, for Iquitos and Lima.
A while later, my parents briefly chat with a young Puerto Rican woman who is getting married in Trujillo, Peru, with a Peruvian. She kindly shows her wedding dress, carefully packed in one of her carry-ons, with a big smile. In the meantime, I see a Mexicana Boeing 727 on push-back, while a BWIA MD-80 takes-off in a flash, from one of the large windows. Fashion show?The PA system doesn't look too good. Two different boarding agents talk at the same time. One is calling an Air France flight to Martinique, I think, while the other calls passengers on Air Aruba. Weird. Right after that, we see two AeroPeru flight attendants, proudly wearing their blue uniforms, passing in front of us, eating their ice creams. My mom says: "Look at those trainee fashion show models. I wonder what kind of service they give to their compatriots." It is 6PM and at last, they are calling our flight, AeroPeru flight PL1603. Now, we were booked on AeroPeru flight PL603. But I suppose their flight was overbooked, so they got another aircraft, a DC-10, and by the small number of passengers waiting with us, I deduce the plane is less than half-full. Surprise, surprise! My mom recognizes a star from the Latin-American soap operas, Salvador Pineda. She asks the tired-looking man for an autograph and a picture. After this kind service, he proceeds to "Premier" Class, and we realize he is the only passenger in that cabin. As I board the plane, I notice the seat covers are colorful and very different. Not very appealing. We find our seats. My sister is in the aisle seat, right next to a young Peruvian man. I am in the other aisle seat next to her, while my parents are in the middle. After quick boarding, the flight attendants pass in the cabin with a small basket containing candy, and offering each passenger. I think it is a very nice initiative to attenuate the ear pain during take-off. The plane pushes back and slowly rolls. ¡Adios, Miami!"Welcome aboard AeroPeru flight 1603, non-stop service to Lima. Our flight time this evening will be 5 hours. We will fly at an altitude of...". My brain tells me: "Oh dear. We'll spend 5 hours on this airplane." Afterwards, the flight attendants present their safety demonstration. The DC-10 has a video screen, but I suppose they didn't have the tape with the safety demonstration, if there was any. 
"Now, we would like your full attention for this important safety message. There are 8 emergency exits. Four forward, two aft and one over each wing. In case of a loss of cabin pressure, an oxygen mask will appear automatically...". I hear everything but when the demonstration is almost over, I have the idea of looking in the aisle and, surprise... I see a flight attendant demonstrating the seat belt. All I did was "hear" the demonstration, and at the last minute, I also "watch" it. Oh well... A few moments later, the lights are off, and with not-so-reassuring darkness, we take-off from Miami at 6:30PM.
"Is that the menu?"After reaching cruising altitude, the lights turn on and I quickly notice the safety card, and it mentions "McDonnell Douglas DC-10-15". Now, once I got home at Montreal, I read that the DC-10-15 was a special version of the DC-10 equipped for hot, high-altitude airports, such as Mexico City, operated only by Aeromexico and Mexicana. Now, I suppose the strategic alliance between AeroPeru and Aeromexico explains everything now. But wait a minute. If I'm on a Mexican aircraft, how come the placards, including the emergency exits ("SAIDA") and the folding trays are written in English and Portuguese? Mystery... A mystery, just like the "Fasten Seat Belts" and "No Smoking" signs in English and German on an American Airlines Boeing 747 (like in Airport 1975). The flight attendants walk in the cabin, passing what I believed were "flyers" or even the menu... But it was only... the Peruvian Immigration Form. My dad takes care of filling them all for us, and in the "Citizenship" field, he writes "Peruvian-Canadian". But he suddenly thinks and asks the flight attendant what he should write. The answer: since we have Canadian passports and our Peruvian ones are already expired, we are "Canadians" only. About one hour after take-off, it is "grub time"... First, the flight attendants pass in the cabin and, using metal grips, hand us steaming hot towels. Talk about nice service! Usually that kind of favor is reserved to First or Business Class passengers. A while later, they come back with the little appetizers. Small, tempting hors-d'oeuvres served on toothpicks. Afterwards, it's time for a hot meal. The food is very tempting again and tastes very good. The meat with green sauce (most likely cilantro) and vegetables is excellent. 
After an excellent meal, topped by a small ice cream cake piece and some Coca-Cola, surprise! I am not dizzy! I sit down and enjoy the flight. But there's not much to enjoy. There is no inflight magazine, it is almost total darkness outside, and even if there was anything to see, almost all the passengers are near the window seats. I even see a female passenger using two seats, one for her tray and the other for her legs!
Inflight entertainment programThirty minutes later, the flight attendants pass the earphones. I ask the flight attendant "What is the inflight movie this evening?". She says "Oh, it's a new movie, it's called Little Big League". The lights are dimmed and the screen shows a lot of static for a few seconds, followed by the movie, dubbed in Spanish. Now, I connect my earphones and try to catch the sound, but nothing. The 10 or 12 audio channels are nothing but static. The movie sound is on the loudspeakers. The movie is interesting for a while. A teenager inherits a baseball team, the Minnesota Twins, and suffers from an obvious lack of experience, but it changes. Too bad I am too tired, because I fall asleep in the middle of the movie. Afterwards, when I wake up with a minor stomache, the movie has ended and I ask my dad what happened. He says, "I don't know. I fell asleep too!". I tell Dad about the stomach ache, and he gives me a Gaviscon pill, and tells me to go to the aft galley and ask for a glass of water. On my way to the aft galley in almost total darkness, I see two little moving lights and smell an unpleasant odor. I deduce it's two cigarettes. I get to the galley to find the flight attendant, smoking too! She offers me a glass of water with a kind smile, and in a flash, I notice two metal drawers. One has the SAS logo graved in, and the other has... CP Air! This plane is old! On my way back, a flight attendant passes us the duty-free shop guide. My dad turns on the reading light and quickly reads the liquors section. He buys a Chivas Regal bottle for US$20.00, probably to celebrate our visit once we arrive at our friend's house in Lima. The flight attendant comes back with a very nice bag and the bottle inside. "Welcome to Lima"
The "Fasten Seat Belts" sign turns on and after we cross the clouds and see the shine of the illuminated streets of Lima. "Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Lima..." My sister looks at us with a big emotional smile. We are landing at our hometown, Lima, and my parents are excited too. I am excited too since it is the first time I see the lights of the city from the sky. I quickly fasten my seat belt and a few minutes later, it's the smoothest touchdown ever, followed by a few quiet applauses.
The plane slowly rolls near the terminal and as the lights turn on, my mom says: "Now, kids, we're in Lima and there are no jetways here. Put on your coats and let's go.". As a flight attendants says "Goodbye" at the door, we walk out and see a few Boeing 727 and 737s parked. A yellow line shows the direction to take for the terminal. I look back and for the first time, I see our aircraft. My sister takes her camera and snap! She takes a picture of the DC-10. "Hey, the logo on the tail didn't appear". When we flew back to Miami afterwards, we noticed there was no logo on the tail. Just plain blue, unlike the other AeroPeru aircraft. As we get to the immigration counter, I notice many stair carts with the logos of Aero Continente, Americana and AeroPeru, three major Peruvian airlines. Then we proceed to the baggage claim. One baggage claim for everybody. My sister notices with horror her suitcase is missing. Then we notice the baggage rolling carpet passes next to the plane, then the terminal, then back to the plane. On a small corner, she notices at last her suitcase, open, and with only one bottle of hairspray missing. Phew! We get to the exit, with a big cart and the "mountain" of luggage and are greeted by many, many people... as well as our relatives. Nothing but smiles to greet us! The atmosphere is very pleasant. And I notice with amazement all the signs in Spanish in the terminal. My dad starts filming everything on the video camera, including the mountain of luggage and the happy relatives. It's been so long we haven't seen them! Editor's Note: In the aftermath of the crash of flight PL603  , AeroPeru went out of business in 1999. | ||||||
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This is part of a series of 5 articles on a trip from Montreal to Lima and back. Click on the numbers below for easy navigation.
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DC-10 parked, in flight: by Sergio Ortega, captured and modified from Microsoft Flight Simulator 98. DC-10 on take-off: original from Corbis. DC-10 landing: from Corbis, runway added by Sergio Ortega. © 1998-2008, airodyssey.net. All rights reserved. Disclaimer, trademarks, privacy policy. |
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